For the last decade The Forgotten Beasts of Eld has been one of those books that I kept meaning to read but never did. I rarely read a book with expectations, but I guess I was expecting more from this book since Patricia A. McKillip wrote one of my favorite fantasy trilogies, The Riddle-Master. The Forgotten Beasts of Eld is a nice story but it lacks a sense of depth. It comes across more as the telling of a legend or story than a novel. It would be a good book to have read to you but the solo reader might find it lacking. I did enjoy the book once I adjusted my expectations.
--Amy
http://weeklygeekshow.com/2006/09/book_review_the_forgotten_beas.php

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Product Description

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #65315 in Books
• Published on: 2006-01-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

Amazon.com Review
Almost destroyed because of a man's fear and greed, Sybel, a beautiful young sorceress, embarks on a quest for revenge that proves equally destructive. Winner of the World Fantasy award, this exquisitely written story has something for almost every reader: adventure, romance and a resonant mythology that reveals powerful truths about human nature. Locus praised it for its "marvelous heroine... and chilling sorcery" and The New York Times called it "rich and regal."

Review
The "wondrous" beasts, "called" by the wizards of Eld to the top of their mountain and now kept by young Sybel the white-haired witch who lives there alone beneath her crystal dome, include the Black Swan of Tirlith, the singing white-tusked Boar Cyrin, the green-winged dragon Gyld, the Lyon Gules, the huge black Cat Moriah and the blue-eyed Falcon Ter. Into this enchanted menagerie comes King Drede's motherless infant son whom Sybel rears and loves and calls "my Tam," and with him the man Coren, Drede's enemy, whom Sybel later marries in order to use him in her private vendetta against Drede. It's all set forth in charged and resonating (and, to us, self-infatuated) prose that makes everything seem momentous, and though Sybel in the end confronts the most fearsome beast of all - the Blammor who forces her to look inward (thus releasing her for love although the same experience has killed kings and wizards) - there really isn't much to see beneath the opulent verbal surface. (Kirkus Reviews)

Review